May is always a busy month in the FPC’s calendar - working with our partners in Re:fresh to produce the industry’s annual conference and awards, with a change of venue this year held at the Intercontinental London Park Lane, which proved extremely popular.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our sponsors whose support made 13 May possible and award entrants who surpassed themselves this year, with an unprecedented number of entries to an extremely high standard, which has undoubtedly raised the bar for 2011. It was great to see every sector represented at the awards dinner - the ‘who’s who’ of our industry added to the overwhelming success of the evening and I personally enjoyed meeting so many of you. Re:fresh has grown year on year and it’s great to have the industry behind us as we start to plan next year’s event.

The Saturday following Re:fresh, we travelled north at the kind invitation of FPC member Bradford’s St James’ Wholesale Market to attend its annual dinner as guests of tenants’ association chairman and Burbank Produce managing director Simon Kershaw and his wife Jane. The warm welcome we received was special and a reminder of why I am proud to hail from that part of the country. One of the highlights was the generous support of the market for local charity SNOOP, with almost £10,000 raised and equally impressive was Noel Kershaw’s CD auctioned on the night with an amazing live performance. It was super to see our dear friends Donald and Rosa Grimshaw - Donald has been active in the market for more than 30 years and his passion for the industry and in particular Bradford’s wholesale market is an inspiration - a truly remarkable couple, and proof that 5 A DAY can work as they are about to set off on a European tour crossing three countries which, considering they are both in their 80s, is no mean feat. Bradford’s market is undergoing major refurbishments this summer and we look forward to visiting later in the year.

The recent election of David Cameron’s coalition government makes a statement of the nation’s desire for change and we will closely monitor the quango bonfire - the promised commitment to remove unnecessary bureaucracy and red tape is long overdue.